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MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS 



CULTIVATION OF THE CINCHONA TREE IN THE 
UNITED STATES. 



BY THE 



AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION 



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PHILADELPHIA: 

COLLINS, PRINTER, 705 JAYNE STKEET. 

1870. 



MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS 



CULTIVATION OF THE CINCHONA TREE IN THE 
UNITED STATES. 



BY THE 



AMERICAN MEDICAiL:.&SSaCIi;ro)H. 




PHILADELPHIA: 

COLLINS, PRINTER, 705 JAYNE STREET, 

1870. 












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JN EXCHANGE 



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MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 



To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the United 

States of America. 

The American Medical Association, representing the whole of 
the regular profession throughout the United States, would re- 
spectfully present, for the consideration of your honorable body, 
the following memorial on the cultivation of the cinchona in the 
United States. 

Upon the importance of the bark of this tree for the good of 
mankind it is unnecessary to dwell at any length. With especial 
reference to the use of cinchona and its preparations, in the treat- 
ment of a class of diseases peculiar to tropical and miasmatic 
localities, an eminent authority says: — 

. " There is no substitute for these. They are universally relied 
on for this purpose. In all countries, and at all periods, since the 
discovery of the properties of this invaluable and incomparable 
substance, amidst all the conflicting dogmas of different medical 
doctrines, Peruvian bark has never failed to sustain its reputation, 
and to answer the expectations that have rested upon it. Amidst 
the manifold uncertainties of medical science, and the perpetual 
contingencies of medical art ; amidst the disheartening scientific 
infidelity which has lately been taking possession of the medical 
mind, shaking to its deepest foundations the firm old faith in the 
. potency of drugs, and threatening to overturn and demolish it 
altogether, it is gratifying and consolatory to feel that here, at least, 
we stand upon solid ground; that here we may hold that there is 
one great and important therapeutical relationship definitely and 
positively ascertained and established, defying alike the open 
assaults of quackery from without, and the treacherous machina- 
tions of indolent skepticism from within." — {Bartlett on Fevers) 



4 MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 

But, although, as thus indicated, its chief value as a therapeutic 
agent in the treatment of this wide-spread class of diseases cannot 
be overestimated, yet it is not here alone that the physician finds it 
a ready servant to do his bidding; it is so highly valued for its 
tonic properties that many have expressed the belief that, with 
this in their hands, they do not need or desire any other articles of 
this class. Asa preventive of these diseases it is also of great 
value. In exposure to malaria an almost certain immunity from 
danger may be obtained by the use of this substance in some one 
of its preparations. A collection of facts, illustrating and conclu- 
sively proving this point, has been published by the Sanitary Com- 
mission in a little monograph, entitled " Quinine as a Prophylactic 
against Malarial Diseases."— {Doc. D. U. S. San. Com.) 

But perhaps a more convincing proof of the high estimation in 
which this substance is held may be found in the figures which 
indicate the amount of the bark and of its active principles im- 
ported for our use, and the price paid for the same. The figures 
are from the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury on Com- 
merce and Navigation, as quoted by Dr. Thomas Antisell, of the 
Agricultural Department, in an article upon the cultivation of the 
cinchona in the United States, in the report of the Commissioner 
of Agriculture for the year 1866. 

In a period of six years (from 1859 to 1865) there were imported 

Of bark no less than 1,631,876 lbs., of the value of $1,874,112. 
Of all the salts of quinine, 7,526 lbs., " 287,138. 

Dr. Antisell furnishes also in this article a statement of the 
amount consumed or purchased, for the use of the United States 
army, for the period of five years, from Jan. 1, 1861, to Dec. 31, 
1865, inclusive, as communicated to him by the Surgeon-General. 

Sulphate of quinine, 595,544 oz. 

cinchona, 343,22 6 oz. 

Powdered Calisaya bark, 259,258 oz. 

In view of the great medicinal value of this bark, it is no great 
wonder that the attention of scientific men was early attracted to 
an investigation of the nature and habit of the tree which produced 
it. And yet no description of the tree was published until the 
lapse of a whole century after attention was first especially drawn 
to its properties in 1638, by the cure of the Countess of Cinchon, 
wife of the viceroy of Peru, by its use. In 1738 La Condamine 
published a description of the cinchona, accompanied by a draw- 



MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. O 

ing. This learned man had been sent to Peru by the Academy of 
Sciences of France to measure a degree of the meridian. In com- 
pany with Joseph de Jussieu, the botanist of the expedition, he 
visited the localities which furnished the bark, with the view of 
examining and describing the tree. Jussieu remained to prosecute 
these investigations after the rest of the expedition had returned 
to France, but on his own return, in 1771, the condition of his 
health prevented him from publishing the results of his labors. 
Five years later Dombey was instructed to make a collection of 
the plants of Peru. He accompanied a Spanish expedition sent 
out for the same purpose under the direction of Ruiz and Pavon. 
Dombey returned in 17tf5, Ruiz and Pavon four years later. Even 
the learned Humboldt was induced by his interest in the matter to 
visit and explore the quinine regions. After that time many more 
entered this field of investigation, among whom we may mention 
Weddell, De Londre, Hasskarl, Markham, and Howard. 

The first attempts to acclimate the tree in other countries than 
those to which it is indigenous were unsuccessful. De la Con- 
damine, who attempted to transport some young trees from Peru, 
was so unfortunate as to have them washed overboard after eight 
months of careful nursing. Dr. Weddell carried with him to Paris 
some seeds, which were planted in the Jardin des Plantes in 1848. 
About the same time, under instructions from the Dutch govern- 
ment, Dr. Hasskarl obtained some young trees, and planted them 
in Java. 

As early as 1839, Dr. Forbes Royle recommended the Eng- 
lish government to undertake the cultivation of the cinchona 
in certain localities in India. An official proposal was not made, 
however, until 1852. This proposal having been referred by the 
government to Dr. Royle, he zealously urged its acceptance by the 
government, for reasons of economy. Dr. Royle did not, however, 
live to see the accomplishment of his desires. In 1859, and after 
the death of Dr. Royle, Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for the 
Colonies, intrusted Mr. Clements R. Markham with the duty of 
superintending the whole matter of selecting and transplanting the 
tree. He was aided by Mr. Richard Spruce, an able botanist, who 
forwarded 529 plants, 1000 cuttings, and at least 100,000 dried 
seeds to India, where a site upon the Neilgherry Mountains had 
already been prepared for their reception by Mr. Markham, and 
where the plantation was commenced in 1860. This attempt has 
met with perfect success. In May, 1S66, we find the number of 



6 MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 

plants to be, according to the official report, 1,123,6-45. The 
analyses of the bark made by Mr. Howard and others have been 
very favorable, proving that the plant may be transplanted, and 
that, under the proper conditions of cultivation, it will furnish a 
bark equally efficient with that brought from South America. 

There remain but two questions, we think, to be discussed, when 
the matter will be seen in its proper light. 1. Is not the supply so 
near at hand as South America inexhaustible? 2. Have we within 
the limits of our own country the proper climatic and other con- 
ditions to grow the plant with success? 

With regard to the first of these questions a single quotation 
from Mr. Markham's Travels in Peru and India will be a sufficient 
answer. "A century ago, Condamine raised a warning voice against 
the destruction that was going on in the forests of Loxa. Ulloa 
advised the government to check it by legislation; soon afterwards 
Humboldt reported that 25,000 cinchona trees were destroyed 
every year, and Ruiz protested against the custom of barking the 
trees, and leaving them to be destroyed by rot. But nothing was 
done in the way of conservancy, either by the government or by 
private speculators whose subsistence depended on a continued 
supply of the bark. Dr. Weddell, alluding to this recklessness as 
regards C. calisaya, observes that 'the forests of Bolivia, rich as 
they are, cannot long resist the continued attacks to which they 
have been recently exposed. He who, in Europe, sees these enor- 
mous and ever-increasing masses of bark arrive, may perhaps 
believe that they will continue to do so; but he who sees the 
cinchona trees in their native forests, and knows the real truth, is 
obliged to think otherwise.' .... Then, again, the supplies of 
bark from South America are not nearly sufficient to meet the 
demand, and the price is kept so high as to place this inestimable 
remedy beyond the means of millions of natives of fever-visited 
regions." 

In reply to the second question we would present the following 
facts as to California, which render it a field where cinchona may 
be cultivated with success. 

Perhaps in no other part of the world will there be found such 
a multiplicity of climates in juxtaposition to each other, consti- 
tuting, as it were, a heterogeneous mixture of the Tropical and the 
Arctic. 

A glance at the topography of the State will at once give some 
idea of this peculiarity. California covers about 189,000 square 



MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 7 

miles, between 32° 30' and 42° of north latitude, and is traversed 
throughout its whole extent by two distinct lines of mountain 
ranges, while its southeastern limits stretch off towards the 114th 
degree of west longitude, into the table-lands of New Mexico. 

Sloping back to the first of these mountain ranges is a long line 
of coast under the control of the ocean — being the only portion of 
the State preserved from desiccation during the rainless summer, 
by showers of mist — which has a uniform climate of about 56°, 
the mean temperature of any one month never exceeding 61°, and 
never falling below 50°. The extensive region bordering on the 
great Bay of San Francisco, which seems to adopt one-half of its 
climatic features from the ocean, and the other half from the 
interior and more heated valleys, is inexhaustible in agricultural 
resources. The Pajaro, and some other valleys further south, to 
which the oceanic winds gain access through gaps in the Coast 
Eange mountains, belong also to the same system, as well as the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, although in a less degree, 
these latter being further removed from the ocean. The mean 
temperature of the two last-named valleys is about 60°; while the 
hottest day is 94°, and the coldest 32°. Next we have the interior 
mountain region (Sierra Nevada), with innumerable little valleys, 
buried more or less in snow during the winter, and converted by 
the summer's sun at midday almost into furnaces, and yet luxuriant 
with all kinds of delicious fruits. Finally, the southern region, 
which includes nearly one-fourth of the State, being removed alike 
from both extremes of temperature which operate, as we have just 
seen, in the more northern parts, and uninfluenced either by moun- 
tain or ocean, enjoys a most genial and equable climate. Moreover, 
it has been found, practically, that California covers all the zones 
that belt the earth with climatic differences, for there is scarcely a 
cereal, fruit, plant, or tree, wheresoever it may be indigenous, that 
cannot be grown or nurtured in the open air in some part of 
this State. Another remarkable fact connected with the complex 
atmospherical conditions of California is that the well-known ordi- 
nary effects of latitude, longitude, and altitude seem to bear with 
but comparatively little direct relations in some portions of the 
State. In the more southerly part of the intepior mountain system, 
the general character of the vegetation has obtained for these 
mountains the title of the "Alps of California," but their analogue 
is found in the arctic zone rather than in Switzerland. In the 
Swiss Alps, trees are not found higher than 6200 feet above the sea. 



8 MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 

In the California Alps, trees are found 11,000 feet above the sea, 
and good pasturage extends from 5000 to 10,000 feet above the 
sea level, and even higher — up to the very crests of the peaks. 
At 3500 feet above sea level the dense forest begins. The trees 
are mostly sugar and yellow pine, Douglass spruce, fir, and bastard 
cedar. Along the western slope, at an altitude of 5000 to 7000 
feet, the big trees, or giant sequoias, are abundant, not merely 
occurring in isolated groves, but scattered abundantly in common 
with the timber for a distance of at least twenty-five miles along 
the tributaries of Kings, Kewent, and Kern rivers. 

Considering, therefore, the peculiarity and variety of the climatic 
conditions and vegetable productions of California, it can scarcely 
be doubted, that a locality may be found here for the propaga- 
tion of the cinchona as readily as in India, where its cultivation 
has been attended with success. As is well known the native 
habitat of the cinchona genus is in the mountain region of South 
America, from 10° north latitude to 20° south of the equator, 
and extending eastward from the Peruvian Andes to the confines 
of Brazil, at elevations varying from 6000 to 11,000 feet. The most 
esteemed kinds are found between 7° north and 15° south, and at 
an average temperature of about 68°; but it has been recently 
ascertained that on the dry slopes of the central Cordillera of New 
Grenada, a most valuable species flourishes in a temperature vary- 
ing between two ranges, thus: Lower limit — day, up to 59° to 60°; 
night, 46° to 4S°. Upper limit— day, up to 40° to 48° ; night, 35° 
to 36°. At the lower limit the night-temperature at times ran down 
to freezing. Now the success attending the plantation of these 
trees at Sikhim and Jamaica — stations far removed in latitude and 
absolute elevation from their natural habitat — and especially on 
the Neilgherry Mountains and country south of Calcutta, shows 
satisfactorily that, if we can obtain an equable climate and a suffi- 
cient rainfall within the limits of the United States, they will 
flourish here also as well. Following out this conclusion, Dr. 
Thomas Antisell, in his elaborate contribution on the subject of 
this communication, in the United States Agricultural Report for 
1866, recommends the experiment of a plantation in this State 
(California) at some distance from the coast in San Luis Obispo, 
and San Diego counties. The following abstracts of mean tempera- 
tures of the district at the base of the Sierra Nevada, from 40° to 
32° north latitude, extracted from his report, will serve to contrast 
this locality with the stations in the East Indies: Spring 55° to 



MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 9 

65°— range 10°; summer 70° to 80°— range 10°; autumn 60° to 
70°— range 10°; winter 45° to 52°— range 7°. Yearly mean 
average from 45° to 80°. 

The rainfall during the same seasons was — spring, 10 cubic 
inches; summer, 2 cubic inches; autumn, 3 cubic inches; winter, 
10 cubic inches — total for the year, 25 cubic inches. Higher up 
the slopes of the range, the temperature would of coui'se be lower, 
and the rainfall greater ; hence it would not be difficult to select 
there a station which would combine the necessary moisture and 
warmth. These temperatures may be contrasted with those on the 
Neilgherries. Ootacamund is in the centre of a plateau, by no 
means a flat surface. The rains come in the southwest monsoon 
from May to September from the west, and at other times it receives 
the rain of the northeast monsoon. The total rainfall is from Q5 
to 75 inches. The mean temperatures range from 42° to 58°. At 
a station lower down on the range (Conover), the mean tempera- 
ture is from 52° to 71°. 

Anywhere between 34° and 37° in the western slopes of the 
Sierra Nevada, Dr. Antisell thinks a temperature similar to that 
of India may be obtained by ascending the range from 1500 to 
2000 feet above its base. We believe with him that all the condi- 
tions of climate which would support the cinchona could be 
found immediately below the altitude of the Sequoia. 

The American Medical Association therefore ask, in view of the 
foregoing facts, that the Congress of the United States would ap- 
point a commission of scientific men for the following purpose : — 

1. To determine what portion, if any, of the public domain of 
the United States will produce the cinchona, and which may be 
set apart for this purpose. 

2. To determine what species may be best transplanted, and will 
furnish the greatest amount of the active principles. 

3. That they be authorized to visit such South American coun- 
tries as they may deem necessary in order to determine these points 
employ a competent botanist to assist them, and that our consuls 
in such States be instructed to further these investigations. 

4. That they be empowered to negotiate for, and obtain a proper 
quantity of seeds and plants. 

We would add to this that the Sacramento Medical Society has 
pledged itself, provided the requisite plants or seeds are furnished 
free of cost by the Government, to use every effort in endeavoring 
to find a proper habitat for the cinchona tree in California, and 



10 MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 

to report the results of their experiments to the Agricultural 
Bureau at Washington. The "State Board of Agriculture," of 
California, through one of its members, has promised its co-opera- 
tion in any plan which may be deemed most advisable for the 
accomplishment of the objects contemplated by the appointment 
of this committee. 

LEMUEL J. DEAL, M. D., Chairman. 

THOS. M. LOGAN, M. D., 

For the Committee. 



By order of the Association, 

GEORGE MENDENHALL, M.D., 

President. 
WM. B. ATKINSON, M.D., 

Permanent Secretary, 

1400 Pine Street, Philadelphia. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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